May 5, 2007 7:26 pm US/Mountain
Colorado Officials Monitor Probe Of Teen's Death
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) ―
State officials were monitoring a two-county investigation into the death this week of a Utah teen enrolled in a wilderness-based program for at-risk children.
The Mesa County coroner ruled that Caleb Jensen died Wednesday from natural causes.
He died in a remote area outside of Montrose during a "routine outing" with Alternative Youth Adventures, program officials said. The boy had been ordered by the Utah Division of Juvenile Services to enroll in the two-month program.
"There was nothing out of the ordinary. It's just a very tragic incident," said Bill Palatucci, a senior vice president of Roseland, N.J.-based Community Education Centers Inc., which owns and operates Alternative Youth Adventures.
The state has a long-term contract with Alternative Youth Adventures, and 26 Colorado teens currently are enrolled in it, Colorado Department of Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said.
"We have great concern for the kids in the program, and we're monitoring the investigation," McDonough said.
Few details have been released of what happened before Jensen's death.
Montrose County Sheriff Rick Dunlap said his deputies got a call about a group of counselors performing CPR on a boy Wednesday, but they were not able to revive him. Mesa County sheriff's deputies also responded.
Three counselors and six youths were at an Alternative Youth Adventures camp about two miles from any road.
Alternative Youth Adventures has worked in Montrose since 2000. It focuses on self-esteem and team-building projects for Colorado and Utah youths ages 12 to 18, Palatucci said.
Palatucci said the program has not had any other deaths.
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